Best Kept Secret
by hidinginthecorneragain
Summary: "The first time it happened, it was just a simple mistake. The second time, neither of them were particularly sober. And then he didn't think. The third time that it happened was the last. But it couldn't stay secret forever." One shot series detailing what happened between Cammie&Preston before Abscense Makes The Heart Grow Fonder (which you must read to understand) R&R Pleasee
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Guess who's back, back again.**

 **No, we're not doing that.**

 **So welcome to the spin-off one shot series that accompanies All We Have Is Time. I can't decide whether I've enjoyed writing this or not, because I don't ship Cammie and Preston _that_ much. But it's been interesting.**

 **I feel as though I should apologise because I don't think I've really done them justice.**

* * *

The first time it happened, it was just a simple mistake...

* * *

Preston Winters didn't know what to do as he sat in his car. He had gotten up so early that morning and he figured that his head wasn't in the right place to be making decisions. But he had nowhere to go, nobody to turn to. Zach was on a mission, and his mom was out of the country.

After he had left his apartment that he shared with Macey in DC, he had taken all of his things, gotten in his car and just driven away. He was driving for so long, with no apparent destination but he began to grow tired.

That was how Preston Winters ended up at Cameron Morgan's house at 7:30am. He parked the car and waited outside the house for at least 15 minutes, it may have been longer but he wasn't sure. Without knowing how he was going to explain anything going on in his head, he got out of his car and walked up the driveway to Cammie's front door. He rang the doorbell, and stood back a little waiting for her to answer.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough the door was opened and Preston was face-to-face with a very tired looking Cammie.

"Preston?"

"Cammie..."

"What are you doing here? And especially at this time of the morning. Is everything okay?"

"I...I didn't know where else to go and I know that Zach isn't here and..."

"Just come in, it's freezing." She said, opening the door so Preston could come inside.

Once they were both inside, Cammie walked through to the living room with Preston trailing behind. She sat down on the couch, and he sat just over a metre away from her.

"So, why are you here again?"

"Don't freak out." He started, which made Cammie a little concerned.

"Why would I freak out, what have you done?"

"Nothing... well..."

"Preston. What did you do?"

"I left her, okay? I packed up my stuff at 4 o'clock this morning and I left."

"You did what?" Cammie's voice was louder now, she was almost shouting.

"I couldn't do it Cam, I was holding her back and it was all wrong and... If I'd tried to talk to her about it she would've just run off or told me I was being stupid. She can't grow as a person if she's with me. I can't be the person to hold her back, so I got all my stuff and left."  
"Are you crazy?"

"Maybe a little..."  
"Preston, this isn't funny. This isn't a joke to me. You might find this hilarious, frankly I don't care if you do but I'm the one that's going to have to pick up the phone and try and comfort my best friend because you've gone and left her. That's not funny to me."  
"I didn't say it was funny. And it isn't a joke to me either. I did what I did because it was best for Macey."  
"So as well as being crazy, you're extremely stupid. Tell me again how you managed to graduate school, or kindergarten for that matter."

"I shouldn't have come here..." Preston said, going to get up but she pulled him back down.

"I'm not kicking you out. You don't have to sleep in your car."

"Who said anything about sleeping in my car?"

"Well you don't have anywhere else to go, and you know as well as I do that if you try and check into a hotel then Macey will track you down. Besides, Zach doesn't get back for another week."

"So you'll let me stay?"

"I'm only returning a very overdue favour. You let me stay with you in Rome, I'm letting you stay now."

* * *

Preston and Cammie had spent the rest of the cold, miserable day sat on the couch watching movies. They had watched the first 4 Mission Impossible movies, but taking a dramatic change, they had decided to watch High School Musical Two , which was Cammie's choice. Preston had objected at first, but after some slight interrogation Cammie actually discovered that he was a secret fan (and had owned the soundtrack until Macey had found it and burnt it...literally.)

By 9 o'clock that night, they were both exhausted. As well as sitting and watching movies, they had been talking. The topics of conversation ranged from Macey and Preston, and why he had left her to Cammie and Zach, and how they weren't in a completely exclusive relationship.

Preston was sitting on the couch downstairs, staring off into space when Cammie came down.

"Hey, so I sorted the spare room out and your stuff is all in there." She said, standing in front of him.

"Oh, great thanks." Preston said, standing up and smiling.

"So, erm...goodnight." Cammie said, stepping towards Preston and hugging him tightly.

As she embraced him, the strong smell of his aftershave captivated and intrigued her. It was nice to have company, since she had been in the house by herself for 3 weeks and Preston made her feel comfortable. Almost too comfortable. Preston began to pull back from the hug, but instead of fully letting go of her, he looked down into her sparkling blue eyes and hesitated for a moment.

And that was how it started. It shouldn't have, but it did. Preston pulled Cammie closer to him again and kissed her. He wasn't fully aware of what he was doing until he did It, but once he had realised he was past the point where he could stop. Unexpectedly, Cammie kissed back. At first it was brief, light and gentle but when she began to kiss back, it deepened. After a minute, Cammie pulled back a little, breaking the kiss.

"Preston...we shouldn't. This is wrong..." Cammie said, her face still inches away from Preston's.

"Why didn't you stop me then?" He asked, his voice low and husky.

"I...I..." She hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Before she had anymore time to think, his lips were on hers again. The kisses were hungry this time, desperate.

Cammie's mind was screaming at her. She already felt guilty, she knew that it was wrong. Preston had come here after breaking up with Macey, and now here he was kissing her in the middle of her living room. But even though it felt so wrong in her mind, her heart was telling her a different thing. Maybe she was just lonely, and was seeking comfort after having nobody for so long. Either way, she couldn't find a reason to say no. So she shut off the thoughts in her mind, and let her heart take control.

* * *

When Cammie woke, her head was filled with the recollections of the events of the night before. She hadn't expected it to turn out like it did, but as she looked around and saw Preston lying next to her it was clear what had happened.

The gap between them was practically non-existent and the only thing covering them was a single thin sheet. Trying ever so hard not to wake Preston, Cammie slipped out of the bed and pulled on her night robe. She snuck out of the room and went into the bathroom.

By the time she got back into the room, Preston was awake and sitting up in the bed.

"Morning.." He said quietly, but loud enough for Cammie to hear.

"Morning..." She replied in a tone of equal volume.

"We should probably talk..."

"I know." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Er... I'm sorry, I guess?"

"No, don't be... We both... And we had the chance to stop, it's just... You don't have to be sorry."  
"But you and Zach..."  
"We talked before he left, and we agreed that it'd be okay if we saw other people. That's not a problem. Well, it's not _the_ problem."  
"Oh, so there is a problem?"

"Well, Macey..."  
"We can't tell her. She can't know."  
"I'm not gonna tell her. Of course I wouldn't...It's just... God I feel terrible."  
"Terrible because it happened, or terrible because of the Macey thing?"

"Latter." She said simply. An explanation was really needed. "Preston, this can't happen again. Ever."  
"I know... I know it can't."  
"And it shouldn't...I mean, I didn't hate it. Neither of us hated it but...It just can't happen again."

"Of course, I agree."

"Good."

And with that, Cammie disappeared out of the room and went downstairs hoping to forget the whole situation and the awkwardness that had followed it.

* * *

 ***HIDES BC IT WAS TERRIBLE***

 **Review pleasseee bc I've put it into my head that this is literally the worst thing ever.**

 **Oh and I apologise for any mistakes of the spelling/grammar variety. My laptop is playing up again.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **I was v unsure about putting this up, but it's here and it's readable.**

 **So, have fun reading it, or not. Free will and all.**

* * *

The second time that it happened, neither of them were particularly sober.

* * *

"I know, Liz, I know. She'll be okay."

"But Cam, have you spoken to her?"  
"No, Lizzie I haven't but I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just sleeping or eating a ton of ice cream. You know how she gets."

"I still think that something's up."

"Just give it a few more days Liz, if she hasn't contacted anyone or posted a rant on at least 1 form of social media then we'll know that something is wrong. But for now I think we should just give her the space that she obviously needs."

"Fine. But if you hear from her, you will call me won't you?"

"Of course. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Bye Cammie."

"Bye Lizzie." Cammie said, ending the call and placing the phone on the table as Preston walked into the living room.

It had been just under a week since Preston had turned up on Cammie's doorstep. It had been just under a week, and there was still no word from Macey. No texts, no phone calls, nothing.

"Who was it?" He asked, sitting down on the couch opposite Cammie.

"What?" She asked, snapping out of her daydream.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Oh, it was Liz. Again."  
"She okay?"

"She's worried about Macey. Nobody's heard from her still and Liz thinks something is wrong."

"She hasn't called you?"

"No. Not at all."

"And you're not worried?"

"Are you?" Cammie retorted.

"That wasn't my question, Cam."  
"She's probably just put herself in her isolated McHenry bubble again. It's easier if I just give her some space when things like this happen. She'll want space, so I'm gonna give it to her."

"And I'm guessing Liz didn't agree with that."  
"I can't help Macey if she doesn't ask for my help. Liz needs to stop trying to be a superhero."

"You're very tense today."  
"No, I'm not."

"And you're defensive. What's stressing you out?"

"Nothing." Cammie said, trying to make her reply sound convincing but Preston wasn't buying it.

"Come on, Cam. I know you better than that."

"Nothing's wrong. I just...I need a drink."

"We could go out, but.."  
"We can't because where there is Preston Winters, there is a camera."

"And where there is a camera, there are then pictures."

"Pictures that then get printed."  
"And seen by everybody."  
"Including Macey McHenry." They both finished in unison, and then laughed a little.

"I think we have wine in the fridge." Cammie said, getting up from the couch and walking out to the kitchen with Preston trailing behind her.

"With Macey as your best friend I'm surprised you don't have a cellar."

"Okay, that's enough Macey jokes for one night." She replied quickly, pouring two glasses of wine and handing one to Preston.

"What else do we have in common that we can talk about?" Preston asked, as they walked back into the living room.

"Dead parent?" She suggested, setting her glass down on the table next to the bottle.

"Touchy subject. I think we'd need to drink a lot of this before we can comfortably discuss that one."

"Well I'm sure we can get there."

"Okay. New topic. How's work?"

"Oh you know, typical run-of-the-mill CIA stuff. Terrorism and threats to National Security, the usual."  
"Am I even supposed to know about that?"

"You've known since we were seventeen, I doubt that it's a problem."

"Fair enough."

"How are the others doing? I haven't seen Liz, Jonas, Bex or Grant in ages."

"Bex and Grant are in London and Liz is probably getting Jonas to stalk the shit out of Macey."

"I should probably check my phone, see if she's tried to contact me at all."

"Do you really think that that'd be a good idea?" Cammie asked, topping her glass up again and doing the same for Preston.

"If she's not called you..."

"Then she probably wants to be left alone. Look, if you're that concerned about her then why did you leave?"

"Cam..."  
"Pres..."  
"You seem awfully upset about me leaving Macey. Care to explain?"

"Er, she's been my best friend since we were fifteen and you're the jackass that's chosen to leave her. And it's odd because you don't seem to realise how much she's in love with you. Usually, if this were anybody else that had broken up with her then she wouldn't let them walk away. Macey McHenry doesn't let people leave her. But she let you leave. She hasn't come after you and you've gotta understand how much of a huge deal that is. Have a think about what you've done, Preston. Care to explain?"

"I already did, Cam."  
"It wasn't good enough, Pres."  
"Can we not talk about this? I don't want to fight with you Cammie. We don't fight."  
"Well maybe that's because you don't normally give me a reason to fight with you. You don't normally do stupid things."  
"Oh and this was stupid?"

"Yeah, it was."

"You're right. Coming here was extremely stupid of me." Preston snapped, getting up off of the couch and storming upstairs.

* * *

Preston lay on the bed in the guest bedroom looking up at the ceiling. Music was blaring through his headphones, so he didn't hear the soft knock at the door. He did,however, see Cammie walk in slowly. He took his headphone off, paused the music and looked up.

"I'm sorry." He started. "I was out of order and I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's equally my fault, I shouldn't have made the comments that I did."  
"It's okay, Cam. You don't have to apologise. You're the one that's letting me stay here, and not telling anyone about it which must be making you feel guilty."

"It's not."

"It isn't?"

"I don't feel guilty for anything."

"You mean...?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Preston." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

He sat bolt upright and stared directly into Cammie's eyes again. They were closer now, both in a physical and emotional sense. After everything that had seen and done together, everything they had talked about. Things had changed between them. So really, it came as no surprise to either of them when Preston leaned in and kissed Cammie a minute later. It was a soft kiss, barely noticeable. But it sparked a whirlwind of emotions that the pair of them had been suppressing for the past week, if not longer. Neither of them were thinking, neither of them _could._

It only took a minute, again, for Cammie to break away. "Preston...we can't, not again."

"Can't we?" He said, staring directly at her as she sat there speechless and unsure of how to respond.

And that was all it took.

* * *

The next morning, Preston awoke with a terrible hangover. His head was pounding and he felt extremely sick. He didn't usually drink as much as he had done last night, and this was one of the reasons why. His head hurt so much that he was reluctant to even open his eyes, but when he heard a mumbling from beside him he figured he should.

"Shit." Cammie cursed from beside him.

"Good morning to you too." He muttered.

"My head..." She said, sitting up and reaching for her t shirt that was lying on the end of the bed.

"Yep."

"I should go... shower or something.." Cammie said, getting up. As she was walking towards the door she tripped over Preston's jeans, which were lying across the floor. She fell, and landed flat on her face. "Damn it." Cammie muttered, beginning to laugh.

Preston sat there laughing too, which seemed to break the tension between them.

"Don't laugh at me!" She said, still giggling at herself as she got up off of the floor.

"I wasn't laughing at you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really. I was laughing at your clumsiness, not you." He said, starting to laugh again.

"Idiot." She rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Preston sighed, and looked over at his phone as he began to get dressed.

 _One missed call, one voicemail. Both from Macey._

"Crap." He cursed under his breath as he dismissed the missed call and pressed play on the voicemail.

 _"Preston? I knew you wouldn't pick up. It's alright though because it's not like we need to talk. Because it's perfectly acceptable for you to just walk out and leave me with no I mean honestly do you just not think? Of course you don't, you're a guy, you think with your dick and not your brain. I basically just called to say that I hate you but I don't hate you and I can't hate you and I really just hate myself so I really don't know why I'm calling and I'm glad you didn't pick up"_

He could hear the tears. She was crying and rambling and she was quite clearly drunk from the way that she was slurring. Of all the people that she could've called, she had called Preston. It didn't make sense to him, and he didn't know what he should do. He could hardly just go running back to Macey after what had happened with him and Cammie in the past week, could he? But he couldn't keep staying with Cammie and pretending that everything was fine. Staying with Cammie was a dangerous game, they couldn't slip any further into the cycle that they had created. But he couldn't go back to Macey.

As he slipped his phone into his pocket, there was a knock at the door and Cammie walked in.

"Hey." She smiled, leaning against the door frame.

"That was quick."

"You have a bad concept of time, I took at least 10 minutes."

"Macey called me."

"When? Just now? That's early for Macey...I mean.."

"Last night, she called last night. She left a voicemail."

"Is she okay?"

"She sounded drunk. Like, really drunk. And she was just crying, hysterically and she wouldn't stop talking."

"You should go. Go see her."

"No, Cam. You know that I can't."

"But you should." Cammie said, looking down at the floor. "What happened last night... It cannot happen again. I'm not just saying it this time, I'm meaning it. Zach gets back tomorrow, and.."

"And we're keeping this a secret, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah we are. If it had just been the once then I would've told him but..."

"But it wasn't just once. Just to make sure, we're not telling Macey either."

"God no. She'd take it even worse than Zach."

"So we're clear then. No telling anybody."

"And no repeats."

"Right. No repeats."

* * *

 **A/N: ASDFGHJKL There's chapter two...**

 **Idk... I hope you didn't hate it.**

 **(And once again...sorry for any mistakes.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Welcome to Chapter 3.**

 **I'm in a weird mood , but I felt like I should update because...Idk I don't have a good reason.**

 **Sorry for any mistakes or anything.**

* * *

And then, he just didn't think.

* * *

The day that Zach was due to return home from his mission, Preston decided that it would probably be best if he went to stay at a hotel for a while.

"It's alright, honestly. I don't mind."  
"You don't have to leave, you know." Cammie repeated herself for the third time today.

"I do. I'll be invading your space if I stay any longer."

"No, you won't."  
"You and Zach need your space, and I think I need mine. It's alright Cam."

"If you're sure. But you know you're always welcome, right?"

"I know." He smiled, picked up his suitcase and walked to the door. "Thank you." He said as he walked out to his car, put his suitcase in and drove away.

* * *

That night, in his hotel room, Preston couldn't sleep.

He knew that Zach was home now. Zach had called him when he got home. He told Preston that he was okay, and that the mission went well. And that now he was home, with Cammie.

As much as he tried to block it out, the only thing he could think about was what had happened between him and Cammie. At first, it had seemed like nothing but a little, not-so-innocent now? Now he couldn't shake Cammie from his mind.

But he felt guilty. He thought of how Zach was back in his house with Cammie. How they were probably laughing and talking and kissing. And Zach knew nothing. Zach had no idea at all.

He ignored it as best as he could. He had agreed with Cammie that he wouldn't say anything. He had promised her, they had promised each other. So he couldn't say anything. He _wouldn't_ say anything.

Not yet, anyway.

* * *

It took him two days.

Two days of small talk over the phone with Zach.

Two days of lying to his best friend.

Two days of keeping secrets from him.

Two days.

So he arranged to meet him in the bar that Zach, Cammie, Macey and Preston would usually go to together. Because he had to tell him. Zach _had_ to know.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't right.

Preston knew that by telling Zach, he was essentially throwing away any decent friendships he currently had. He'd lose Zach, he'd lose Cammie and he'd already lost Macey.

But before he could change his mind, Zach walked into the bar where Preston was already sitting and sat right opposite him.

"Hey!" Zach greeted happily.

"Hey." Preston smiled back. Although he was freakishly worked up and very nervous about how Zach was going to react, he was happy to see his best friend.

"How've you been?" Zach said after ordering his drink.

"Me? I've been fine...great actually.." Preston's mind was in a different place, and didn't really want to correspond with his voice.

"Cam told me." Zach stated plainly and Preston's eye's nearly popped out of his head.

 _How do I respond to this_? He thought. But he just replied with "Told you what?" and kept quiet.

"She told me about the whole thing with Macey."

Preston mentally breathed a sigh of relief and thanked whatever deity was above him for Cammie's loyalty and ability to keep secrets. Secrets, which he was about to share.

"Oh, right. Yeah..."

"And by your tone of voice and facial expression, we are absolutely not talking about it."  
"That sounds like a very good idea."

"But seriously. I'm running round trying not to get myself killed in Estonia, and you're breaking up with your girlfriend. I thought you were gonna propose or something, not take off at 4 in the morning."  
"Zach..."

"I know, I said I wasn't gonna talk about it. I'll shut up."

"Good."

"Cam said you were staying at the house while I was gone, you didn't have to leave you know."

"I know, but..."  
"But?"

"I don't know... It would've been awkward."  
"Why would it have been awkward?"

"I figured you two would've wanted some time alone... because...you know."

"Ah that's fair enough. And I suppose that would've been quite awkward. Cam can be a bit...loud."  
"Yeah, I know." he laughed, before realising what he'd said.

It slipped out before Preston could take it back. Did he _actually_ just tell Zach? Indirectly.

"Wait, what?" Zach had picked up on it. Obviously.

"Nothing...I didn't mean...It's just what you say...right?"

"No, Preston. It isn't."

"Well...oops?" the exclamation was less of an exclamation, and more of a question.

"Oops, you didn't mean to say it? Or oops, you need to tell me something?"

"Well I didn't mean to say it..."

"Okay, Preston. I'm your best friend, and in my profession we're trained to detect lies. However, with you I don't have to use any kind of technique because you're a crap liar. If something's going on, you need to tell me. Like, now."

"Nothing's going on as such."

"But?"

"But something may have happened?" It came out like a question again.

"Something may have happened? Something may have...? Preston, stop bullshitting and just tell me what's gone on. I may be a spy, but I'm not psychic."

"Me and Cammie...I... We..."

"Preston. Get to the goddamn point."

"Do I need to say it? You know what I'm going to say."

"Like I said, I'm not a psychic. So funnily enough, I don't know." Zach retorted, but it was clear that he had his assumptions.  
"We slept together! Okay. Is that it? Is that what you wanted me to say? But I'm sorry and I've wanted to tell you since you got back because I've felt so guilty and.."  
"Shut the hell up."  
"But."  
"Shut. Up."  
So Preston fell silent, and waited for Zach to start asking questions as he knew he would.

A minute was all it took. "When did it happen?" Zach asked.

"The first time was..."

"Wait, first time? You mean to tell me it happened more than once?"

"Twice. It happened twice."

"Yeah, that falls under the category of more-than-once, Preston."

"The first time was the night after I left Macey.."

"And the second?"

"The night before you got back..."  
And before Preston could even say anything else, Zach extended his right arm and punched him straight in the jaw.

"Shit that hurt." Zach exclaimed, staring at his fist which was now bleeding.

"No kidding."

Preston would've retaliated, but he had half expected the punch. So he just stood there with his hand on his jaw where he'd been hit.

"You feel better for that?" Preston asked, trying to get a reaction out of Zach. He knew that he was the one in the wrong, but he wasn't going to stand there and let his best friend punch him.

"Well, I might as well hit again. Seeing as doing things twice seems to be the trend right now."

"Look, I apologised..."

"You think an 'I'm sorry' excludes the fact that you slept with my girlfriend, twice?"

"You weren't properly together at the time! I highly doubt that you were completely alone during your time in Estonia. How many girls did you have on the go at once Zach? Two, three? We all know what you're like. Even Cammie knows."  
"Do you _want_ me to punch you again, Winters? Because it really sounds like it right now."

"Look, Zach. I came here because I wanted to tell you. No, I _needed_ to tell you. Because for the last few nights I've been lying awake, ridden with guilt because I've been keeping this from you. I get that you're pissed off at me, okay? I get it, and I expected it. So I'm gonna go, because you need space."  
"Damn right I do." Zach snapped.

"Bye Zach." Preston said, getting up, walking away and wishing none of that had happened.

* * *

It was 10:30pm when Zach burst through the front door of his and Cammie's house. She came into the hall immediately after hearing him enter the house so loudly.

"Hey." She said, oblivious of what was to come.

"Seriously? Hey?" His voice was cold, and she could hear the anger.

"You seem tense...and a little angry. What's wrong?"

"What's...? What's wrong? What do you _think_ is wrong?"

"I don't know Zach, that's why I'm asking you. You were fine before you went to meet Preston and now...Oh god."

"Got it yet, Gallagher Girl?"

Cammie just stood there in silence. Complete and total silence. After all, what could she say? He knew now. And everything was different.

"Zach...I..I..."

"Save it, Cam."

"We were taking a break." She managed to get out, but it came out as more of a sigh than an actual sentence.

"I know that. But I didn't realise that we were taking a break so that you could screw Preston."  
"I didn't mean for it to happen, Zach."  
"Why does that not surprise me?" He pushed past her, walked upstairs and began to pack a bag.

"Zach...Zach, what are you doing?" Cammie was close to tears, which was unlike her.

"What does it look like, Cammie?"

"You don't have to leave. We can talk about this."

"There isn't anything to talk about. I need space. _We_ need space."

"I know. I know that but you don't have to go tonight..."

"Yes, Cam, I do." He replied bluntly, grabbing the bag he'd packed and walking back downstairs with Cammie following close behind him. He put his hand on the front door, ready to open it just as Cammie spoke

"Zach..."

"What?" He turned to face her.

"I'm sorry."

And without even a one-word reply, he turned back around and left the house. The second he closed the door, Cammie sat down on the bottom step of the staircase and sighed. With her head in her hands and tears on her cheeks, she racked her brain for ideas about what to do.

She couldn't call Macey. And even if she did, there was no guarantee that she'd even answer. She didn't want to call Liz, because she'd have to explain everything to her and she figured that Liz would probably judge her for what she'd done.

So she grabbed her phone from her pocket, and hit the first speed dial contact she saw. Within 2 rings, the call was answered.

"Hey Cam, you alright?"

"Bex, I've gotta talk to you. I've really messed up..."

* * *

 **A/N: And there goes that.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it, or not. Either way, thank you for reading :) x**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

 **Yay. Chapter 4.**

 **We're nearly at the end, which is kinda sad.**

 **But anyway...Chapter 4.**

* * *

The third time that it happened was the last.

* * *

Preston Winters looked down at his phone. It was resting on the oak coffee table that sat in the middle of his living room, in his house in Vermont. It had been 8 months since he had left Macey, and since he had last seen Cammie, and since he had been punched by Zach. He wasn't sure why he had come here. But he liked it. He liked Vermont, and he liked his house.

Another message popped up on the screen of his phone. That was 1 missed call and 2 messages now. He hadn't heard from anybody since he had come here, so he wasn't sure who would be contacting him now,especially at 10:30pm. He was just going to ignore it. Dismiss it as a wrong number. But a missed call and two text messages were not from a wrong number. So he unlocked his phone, and found that they were from Cammie.

The first message read "This is weird...I haven't heard from you in nearly 8 months...I don't know where you are or why you aren't answering your phone. Maybe you've got a new one, or maybe you're dead."

The second message was shorter "Please don't be dead."

Preston allowed himself to laugh a little. It wasn't actually funny, because he knew that Cammie was probably going out of her mind with worry about where he was and how he was. Or maybe she wasn't, and his ego was just must larger than he thought. He didn't want to call her back. He wanted to talk to her, but god it was going to be awkward. Really awkward. And Preston had had enough awkward in his life to last him forever. But he didn't want to be ignorant either. Because he wasn't an ignorant person.

He was a kind person. A caring, compassionate, not-at-all-self-centered person. He thought of others before he thought of himself and despite what it may have seemed like, he did things with other people in mind. He always thought of other people's feelings, and it didn't always come across that way. And because of this he sighed deeply, picked up his phone and called her back.

She picked up on the first ring.

"You're not dead." She breathed, and it almost sounded like a sigh of relief.

"No...No I'm not. Are you okay?"

"Yeah...Yeah I mean...I just..."  
"Cam, I know you. I know you well. And I know that when I ask you if you're okay, and you reply like that then you are absolutely not okay."

"I... Where are you?"

"Where are you?"

"I asked you first."

"Vermont."

"Vermont? Oh god."

"What's wrong with Vermont?"

"Nothing's wrong with Vermont, it's just..."  
"Is she here?"

"She was...But I've been driving around for hours trying to find her because she's not where she normally is and..."

"Wait, you're in Vermont too?"

"I needed to see her today and I can't find her and Preston I don't know what to do."

"You want me to call her for you?"  
"No..No! You can't call her.

"I know...I just thought..."  
"I know. But Preston it's almost midnight and I have to find her..."

"Can't you find her tomorrow?"

"No, it has to be today. I have to find her and I just..." Cammie was getting more and more worked up now.

"Cam, listen. You just need to calm down. Where exactly are you?"

"I don't know...I don't...there's church. First Congregational Church or something..I don't know."

"Park up outside and wait in your car. It's just a few streets away from me, and I'll be there in a minute."

"No...It's okay Preston.."

"I'll see you in a minute." He said, ending the call and pulling on his jacket. He turned the lights off, grabbed his keys and was out the door in less than 30 seconds. He considered taking his car, but figured that Cammie would be in no fit state to drive her own, so he decided against it and started to run.

It took him just under five minutes to get there, and he spotted Cammie's car straight away. He ran over to where she was parked, and got into the passenger seat.

"You ran here?"

"Indeed I did." Preston replied, slightly breathless from how fast he had run.

It was silent for a minute. Two minutes. Three. Neither of them could decide if it was awkward or not. Neither of them cared.

"You didn't have to come here..."

"I did, Cam. Now get out of the car, let me drive back to mine."

"I can drive."

"I know you can, that's the point of the driving test. But I'm not _letting_ you drive. So get out of the car, and switch seats."

Cammie could've protested, but she didn't. So she got out of the car and switched seats with Preston.

For the whole car ride back to Preston's house, both of them were silent. It wasn't exactly an awkward atmosphere, but it wasn't comfortable. It didn't take long, because he lived so close, but it felt like a lot longer than it was.

They pulled up in the driveway and walked towards the house.

"Jeez. Nice house." Cammie said to herself, but Preston heard it and laughed a little.

"It is rather. Kinda why I bought it to be honest."

"That, and you needed to get away."

"That's true." He said, turning the key in the lock and walking inside with Cammie just behind him.

He turned the lights on and shut the door behind them.

"You want a drink or something?" Preston asked, as Cammie stood there looking around awkwardly.

"Okay." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Preston nodded, and walked into the kitchen. Two minutes later he emerged with a glass of water for Cammie.

"Thanks." She smiled slightly, accepting the glass.

"No problem." He replied.

"What...what time is it?" She asked.

"Erm...Eleven."  
"Shit." She cursed loudly and the glass that she was holding hit the floor with a crash. It was silent for a minute, as Cammie processed what'd happened. "I'm sorry...I... I didn't mean to...I just..."  
"Cam.."  
"It's nearly midnight and I have to find her but..."  
"Cammie."

"God I'm such an idiot I should've just gone home...But I need to find her because..."  
"Cammie!" Preston had raised his voice, which Cammie wasn't used to. And then, without another word she burst into tears and dropped to the floor in the same way that the glass had before her. She was shaking, and she couldn't breathe. She couldn't think and she couldn't remember how to string a sentence together.

Preston sat down beside her, and took hold of her hand. "Hey, it's okay."

Cammie didn't respond. She just shook her head.

"Cam. Listen. You just need to breathe, okay? Just concentrate, focus on me and breathe." He reassured, but Cammie's breathing was still erratic. He had hold of both of her hands now, and they were closer than they had been in a long time.

"I can't...Pres, I can't..." She managed to whisper between breaths.

"You can, Cammie. Just follow my breathing, okay?"

She nodded, and tried her best to copy Preston's breathing pattern. She kept hold of his hands with a tight grip, but he didn't seem to mind. When her breathing finally slowed down to a relatively normal speed, she fell forward straight into Preston's arms.

"Hey, hey it's okay." He hugged her, and even though she was still extremely tense he felt her relax a bit.

"I'm really sorry." She mumbled.

"No. No you don't need to be."  
"I do...I just..."

"Cammie, please. Calm down, breathe and then we'll talk." He said and Cammie nodded. "Go sit on the couch, let me clear this up. Okay?"

"Okay." She replied, and Preston was sure he saw a faint smile. It wasn't the highest thing on his list of priorities at that moment in time. But he cleared up the water and the broken glass, and went and sat down next to Cammie on the couch.

"Now, come on. Talk."  
"Where'd you want me to start?" She sighed.

"The beginning is usually a good place."

"I came to Vermont to see Macey."

"Right, got that. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you need to see Macey so badly? That's why you're here, and that's why you wanted to know what time it was."  
"It's...it's erm..."  
"Cam, you know you can tell me. It's alright."  
"It's the anniversary...of my dad's death.."  
"Oh Cam." Preston pulled her into another hug.

"It's alright. It's just the girls are usually with me on this day and the only person in the country was Macey. Or at least I thought she was. Bex is in England, Liz is with her because she needed some weird technological help on something or other. Mom's away with Joe, and Abby's AWOL as usual. Whenever this usually happens, Macey is normally there for me and I couldn't find her and..."

"And that's why you had the panic attack."  
"Yeah.. Thank you, for helping to calm me down. I haven't...It's been a while since my last one and..."  
"Macey used to get them. Bad. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night and she'd be sitting there, hyperventilating and curled up in a ball of tears."

"She still gets like that."  
"What?"  
"You said 'used to'...She still gets them, Preston. Except now she doesn't have anyone there to calm her down. She has to help herself."  
"So you've spoken to her?"

"After you left, and after everything with Zach, I got a phone call from Liz. She sounded so scared that I was worried about her for a minute, until she explained to me that she'd had to break into Macey's apartment because she wasn't answering the door. Liz called me and Bex and told us to come as quick as we could. We got there and...I don't even know why I'm telling you this because she told me not to tell you. My point is, she still gets the panic attacks. Don't think it was just for your sake."

"You should call her, see where she is."

"I've tried. That's why I ended up calling you. I...I just needed to talk to somebody that I trust, and I trust you Preston."

"I'm sorry I just, you know, left. After I ended up telling Zach, I felt so shitty and looking back on it I really should've talked it through with you first."

"It's okay. I get why you left. God, if I could've I would've run away too."  
"How are things with you and Zach now?"

"Next question." Cammie laughed off, but Preston could tell that she really did not want to talk about Zach.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Crappy. I just...I need today to be over already."

"Well, you've got 5 minutes."  
"And I'm kinda pissed at Macey if I'm honest."  
"That's understandable. She probably has a reason though. She values you more than you realise."

"I know. I just really hope it's a decent reason. I'm not gonna throw our friendship away over it or anything."  
"No, but you have every right to be annoyed."

There was a little bit of a silence, as Cammie stared around the room and thought of whether she should speak or not.

"I miss him, Pres...I miss my dad." She meant to say it louder than she did. It came out as more of a whisper, but her voice cracked as the words escaped her mouth and she started to cry again.

"I know, Cam, I know." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

"I just...When we were still in school, it wasn't as bad because I was still fighting to take the Circle down and to keep myself alive and just...since then it's so much harder. I know he didn't die for nothing, but I miss him."  
"It's okay."  
"I'm being pathetic, but..."  
"Hey, look at me. You're not being pathetic. You're allowed to be upset, he was your dad and you loved him. They always tell you that it'll get easier, but it never does. I know that, I really do. You miss him everyday, and when it comes to things like his birthday or the anniversary of his death then it just gets too much, right?"

Cammie didn't speak, she just nodded her head.

"My dad was a bad guy. A really, really bad guy. But he was a good father, and that's what I miss. And that's hard enough for me. So it must be a hell of a lot worse since your dad was a good guy."

"It's not something I can usually talk about...they listen to me but they don't really understand."

"I know. But you can talk to me, you know that."

"Yeah, I do."

They hadn't been this close for 8 months. Both physically and emotionally. And it was strange, but familiar. And they were too sensitive today, so really it was inevitable. So when Cammie sat up and kissed Preston, he didn't move away. And when Preston kissed back, Cammie wasn't surprised.

The only thing audible in the whole house was the sounds of their uneven breathing, and the kisses. It almost felt desperate, because that's exactly what it was. Loneliness was another thing that that had in common, but it was something they never discussed. They both knew that it was wrong, they both knew that there would be consequences to this. But in that moment they had to ignore it. They ignored everything apart from each other. All Cammie could think about was Preston, and all Preston could think about was Cammie. And that was that.

* * *

The next morning, Preston woke up to the sound of talking coming from downstairs.

* * *

"It's fine, I get it. It's not a problem Macey." Cammie spoke into her phone.

"No, Cam. I'm really sorry. I should've called and let you know that I was coming to see you, instead of the other way round."

"Macey, it's fine."

"I'm gonna make this up to you, okay? I promise. God I'm such a shit person."  
"No you're not, it was just a misunderstanding."  
"Well this teaches us to actually make proper plans instead of just guessing."

"Yeah, it does." Cammie replied, laughing a little.

"Where did you end up staying anyway?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Oh, erm...I slept in my car."  
"Oh god now I feel even worse. I'm so sorry Cammie."  
"Macey, stop apologising."

"I feel bad though! Look, I gotta go. But I'll call you when I get back to Vermont. Stay in your car, or go do some shopping or something. Just don't leave, I'll see you when I get there. Okay?"

"Alright."  
"Bye Cam." Macey finished, and Cammie ended the call. When she turned around, she saw Preston standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"She have an excuse then?" Preston asked.

"It was just miscommunication."

"Right."

"About last night..." Cammie trailed off.

"If this is the usual 'it was a mistake, we're not telling anyone' kinda speech then yeah, I got it."

"No. I was going to say thank you, for everything that happened before _that_ did."

"But I'm gonna get the speech, aren't I?"

"No. Because I don't think I need to say it again."  
"Cam, we can't keep doing this."

"I know."

"This can't keep happening, and we can't keep denying it either."  
"I know that, Preston. But..."  
"But what?"  
"I don't even know what this is. You still love Macey, and I still love Zach. So I don't understand...I don't understand this."

"I think, what this is, is that things keep going wrong for us and when the people we love the most aren't there to support us, or if they're actually the problem, then we need somebody else to turn to."

"And by 'turn to' you mean 'sleep with'."

"That wasn't what I meant, Cammie."  
"But that's what's happening, Preston. I can't lie to my best friend again, I can't tell her that I slept in my car all night when, in fact, I slept in her ex-boyfriend's bed. She doesn't even know that you're here."  
"I won't be here much longer. I'm moving back to DC in 2 months."

"Are you ever planning on talking to her again?"

"Why does this always turn into a conversation about Macey?"

"Preston, I don't want you to confuse this...whatever it is...for you having feelings for me. Because you don't. You know that. And you know that you love Macey."

"I know. And you love Zach. We've been through this."

"I don't want to argue, and I don't want this to be awkward."

"We're not arguing, and it won't be awkward. No feelings, remember?"  
"I should be going, I need to go and stay gone from here. Macey's coming home today, and she want's me to meet her."  
"You can stay here for a bit."

"It's cool, I'll go find a hotel or something and I'll get a room."  
"You don't have to do that."

"Preston, I can't exactly go and meet Macey straight after leaving your house and still smelling of your cologne. She'll know, and it's not a conversation I'm willing to have with her. Ever."  
"So we're not telling Macey?"

"You have to ask? No, we're not telling Macey. And we're not telling Zach, you think you can deal with that?"

"I think so." Preston smiled, and even laughed a little.

"Thank you for everything Preston, really. Thank you." She smiled.

And then she was gone.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **It's so dramatic it gives me a stress-headache.**

 **Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes or just random typos (because they happen a lot too.)**

 **And thank you for reading x**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Good news, I'm not dead. Sorry to disappoint some of you.**

 **I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO WRITING THE LAST CHAPTER GUYS I DESERVE AN AWARD.**

 **Through writing this last chapter I've discovered that it's a lot easier to write when I'm extremely angry and ever so slightly bitter. So that'll probably help me in future.**

 **Finally, thank you all so much for your constant support with all three of my fics, I really do appreciate it. The updating has been ridiculously unpredictable and some of the content has been very weird, but I've (mostly) enjoyed writing it all and I hope you've enjoyed reading it.**

 **Thank you :) x**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES, OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.**

* * *

She wasn't good at this. This whole 'waiting' thing was getting on her nerves. Cammie was a hell of a lot more patient that Macey had ever been, but not today. She wanted Macey to get there, and to do it quickly so that Cammie didn't have too much time to think.

She'd driven around and around for a while, and then she'd stopped outside Macey's cabin. And now she was driving again. That was, until her phone lit up with a message. So she pulled over and looked at her phone.

1 new message from Macey: I'm home! Where are you? X

So Cammie tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat and kept driving. She was only 15 minutes away from Macey's house so it really didn't take her long. But when she saw Macey walking out of her cabin to meet her, Cammie's stomach was turning.

As Cammie got out of the car, Macey wrapped her arms around her tightly. "My god, I'm so sorry. This is the most ridiculous situation ever and I'm so sorry I wasn't with you and..."

"Mace, calm it. It's fine. I'm okay."

"But you weren't, were you? You must've completely freaked out when I wasn't here."

"Yeah, kind of. But it's okay now. It doesn't matter."

"You're sure? I can apologise for a little longer if you want."

"Macey, it's fine. Honestly."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, that's good. Cause I kinda need to talk to you about something."

"Maybe we should go inside first?"

"Yeah...yeah we should."

They walked inside in pure silence. It wasn't unusual for them. It had only taken about 2 years for them to reach that stage of friendship where the silences were comfortable and it had been like it ever Cammie and Macey were thankful for that. It meant that neither of them had to talk about the problems dancing around their heads.

As they sat down at the kitchen table with mugs full of hot chocolate, Cammie looked around aimlessly.

"So, Vermont seems nice. You like it here?" Cammie asked, causing Macey to snap out of a little daydream.

"I liked it here when I first came here. The idea of it seemed nice and it was a cozy little place when I moved stuff in. But something feels wrong."

"Wrong...how?"

"Something just feels different. These past couple of weeks, there's been a strange air about the place. It's just...something feels wrong with Vermont."

"Maybe you're just getting used to it still. You were in DC for so long and then you just left. It was all very sudden, and none of us expected you to leave."

"I know. But things happened."

"Things?"  
"That thing that I needed to talk to you about..."  
"Yeah?"

"I'm getting to it."  
"Right."

"But I don't know how to say it."  
"Just say it as it is"

"No! I mean, I can't... I'm being stupid."  
"Yeah, you are. Just tell me."

"It doesn't matter now. Not anymore."

"Macey. It's bothering you, or it has bothered you and that matters to me. Talk to me."

"I...I can't. If I tell you then it changes things and..."

"What does it change, Macey? I'm still your best friend, I'm still gonna be here for you no matter what it is and if it's already happened then you might as well just tell me."

"Pregnant." Was all Macey could say.

"Wait, what? Who's? How? When? What?"

"No, I'm not. I couldn't be. But I was."

"When, Macey? Does this mean?"

"Let me talk. I'll explain it all, just let me talk."

"Sorry."

"A week or so after Preston left me, I got kinda sick. So I went to the doctors and they said I was two months pregnant. I freaked out and came here because we hadn't spoken about having kids and then all of a sudden he'd gone and there I was with his child growing inside of me. Then it came around to the date of my 12 week scan. I was really excited because it was the first picture I was going to get. My parents had already agreed with Preston's mom that I wasn't keeping the baby. They didn't want it to cause a scandal. But either way, I was excited about it. And then they couldn't find a heartbeat. I panicked like hell. They told me that they'd missed the miscarriage, and that I'd been carrying a dead fetus around for a little while. So they gave me tablets to pass the tissue and everything was dealt with. One minute I was pregnant, the next I was a hysterical mess."

"Macey... you could've told me. You should've. Did you tell anyone?"

"Mom and Dad knew. So did Preston's mom. But the first person I called was Abby."

"Abby knew?"

"I begged her not to tell you. Don't blame her."  
"No, I mean. I get it. But..."  
"I would've called you. I just... I couldn't explain it all to you and I knew that Abby wouldn't make me talk if I was that hysterical."

"It's okay."

"So yeah. The doctor said I had to get someone to take me home, so I called her in a panic."

 _She fumbled around in her bag for her phone. She dialed the number in a hurry, trying to see properly through a mass of tears. Luckily, the phone connected almost immediately._

 _"Abby?"_

 _"Macey? What's up?"_

 _"I need help. I need your help."_

 _"What kind of help are we talking about?"_

 _"I...I need a ride home."_  
 _"Where are you?"_  
 _"I...I...I'm at the hospital."_

 _"The hospital? Macey what's wrong?"_

 _"I just...damn it."_

 _"Five minutes. Give me five minutes."_

 _And the phone line went dead._

 _Macey sat out in the waiting area for exactly five minutes and then Abby was there. She ran into the hospital and scoured the room in search of Macey. When she saw her, Macey was curled up in a chair in the corner. She hadn't stopped crying since she'd found out. Abby came to her side._

 _"Macey, talk to me. What's wrong?"_

 _"I... I can't."_

 _"Yes you can. Whatever it is, you know you can tell me."_  
 _Macey nodded and attempted to dry her eyes._

 _"You can keep crying, Mace, you just gotta talk."_

 _"I was pregnant." She managed to force the words out. "Turns out I lost my baby two weeks ago. But it was the twelve week scan and they...they couldn't find a heartbeat Abby." She collapsed in a mess of tears again and Abby hugged her tightly._

 _"Macey I'm so sorry. Does Preston know?"_

 _"He didn't even know I was pregnant."_  
 _"Can I please kill the boy?"_

 _"I should probably do it, seeing as I'm so good at killing things. Take my baby, for example."_

 _"Hey! You snap outta that crap. You did not kill your baby, Macey. Miscarriages are common, this happens. It's shitty. It's really, really shitty but you're gonna be okay. You need to get some rest. You need something to eat, something to drink and then you need to sleep."_

 _"I don't want to. I can't stay at home, I can't be in that apartment because there's all that baby stuff there and I just can't deal with it today."_

 _"We'll go to your apartment and I'll go in and grab all your stuff. Then I'm taking you to your cabin in Vermont."_  
 _"You don't have to drive me there, I'll get on a plane or something..."_  
 _"You shouldn't be by yourself."_

 _"I'm okay, Abby."_

 _"I don't think you get it. I'm not leaving you to deal with this by yourself because you'll bottle it all up. I know you, Macey. You're not allowed to do this by yourself. You don't have to tell other people, not yet. But you will eventually."_

 _"Abby..."_  
 _"You can thank me, and then you can shut up about it. Okay?"_

 _"Thank you." Macey said, and even though she totally did not feel like smiling Abby could've sworn she saw a small grin on Macey's face._

"She took me to my cabin, and she stayed in the guest room for 2 days. Then she had a mission coming up so I told her to go spend time with Townsend. I owe her a lot. She helped me, and she kept it a secret. I know that I should've told you...but."

"Macey, does Preston know?"

"Does he...? Does he know? He doesn't have a right to know. He lost that right when he walked out on me at 5 in the morning. He totally, completely and utterly lost any right he had. I owe him nothing. I owe you an apology, and I owe Abby my sanity but by God, I don't owe anything to Preston Winters."

"He deserves to know. It was his child!"

"Like he gives a crap. He needs to give me an explanation before I give him one."

"You're not being very fair, Macey."  
"Was he the one that had to take tablets for two weeks whilst the remains of what was nearly a child was flushed out of his body? Was he the one that felt like crap for two months whilst trying to keep the baby healthy?"  
"Macey, I get your point. But I think you may be being a little bit unfair."

"No, Cammie. Unfair is waking up to find that he was gone without leaving me with so much as a goodbye."  
"Macey..."  
"I didn't get to say goodbye...And God only knows where he is now."

"You have to stop blaming yourself for this. He left of his own accord, you can't have done anything wrong or he would've just told you. It's not your fault he left."

"Whose fault is it then? Somebody always has to be blamed, this time it's my turn just for a change."

"Self-pity is almost as damaging as self-hatred, Macey."

"I don't need a psychological lecture right now Cammie."

"I'm not giving you a lecture, for crying out loud."  
"Really? Well it sure sounds like it."

"Macey I didn't come here to argue with you."

"Funnily enough, that's all you seem to be doing."  
"I'm sorry, I get that you're still emotional and you must be exhausted from driving back and forth."  
"I'm sorry too. Just because I lost my baby doesn't mean I can be a total bitch to you."  
"I really wish you'd told me."  
"It wouldn't have changed anything, Cam, what's done is done. Telling you that I'd lost the baby wouldn't have brought the baby, or Preston back."  
"You still want him back?"

"No. I want answers, I want closure but I don't want him back. Preston can go to hell."  
"Something tells me that he's already in hell, Macey."  
"What'd you mean by that?"

"I just mean that he walked out on you nearly a year ago. He hasn't called you, he didn't leave you a note or anything. God knows what must be going through his head. He's probably just as confused and conflicted."  
"He brought it on himself. Wherever he is, whatever he's doing and whoever he's screwing. I couldn't give less of a shit."  
"You think he's with someone?"

"Why else would he just up and leave without telling me why? Like I said, I don't give a shit. I just feel sorry for the poor bitch that's made the mistake of getting involved with him. Preston Winters is a dangerous game, but chances are she'll find that out for herself. He'll screw her over after he's screwed her. That's how he works."

"He might be alone, you don't know."

"Whatever. As long as I don't have to see him again."

* * *

 **TIME SKIP: 5 YEARS LATER.**

* * *

Macey McHenry paced back and forth outside the doors of the grand hall in the Washington Hilton Hotel. She wasn't sure what it was, but there was something wrong. There was an air about the place that made Macey anxious. She knew that she'd have to go inside eventually, even if it was only just for five minutes. But she had to do it.

This was to be her first proper public appearance in nearly 5 years. So much had happened since, A miscarriage, one unhappy relationship, another relationship that had ended when Macey turned down his proposal and two new bullet wounds. The past few years had been kind to her. She was 25, with a successful career and although she was alone she was anything but lonely. She kept in contact with her best friends and was even on civil terms with most of her family. Her life wasn't perfect, but it was good.

She had to do it, she had to go inside. And there was no time like the present, right? Macey considered bursting in, in true McHenry style. But she hadn't made a grand entrance in so long, and she didn't think she was quite ready. So she stood in the doorway for a minute.

Her life wasn't perfect, but it was good. Right up until that moment she looked straight ahead of her. In the blink of an eye, memories from previous years came flooding back to her at a tremendous speed. She wasn't ready for this, she couldn't face him tonight.

He had been talking to her mother. Had been. Now, Preston Winters was walking straight towards her. She had no choice but to try and shut off any emotions that her heart was trying to force her to feel. In that moment, Macey's heart was a castle and as Preston got closer that castle had to put a few more walls up.

She had to act surprised, and she had to look unbreakable, like he couldn't hurt her again even though she knew all too well that he could.

So when she exclaimed his name, it was in the tone of a whisper. They had heard the mention of each other's names in passing conversations and they had seen each other's faces on magazine covers and TV screens.

But in truth, the last time that they had actually seen each other was in the bedroom of their apartment at 12am before Preston left. The last time they had looked into each other's eyes was when they kissed each other goodnight with matted hair and rumpled sheets. Their last words to each other were 'I love you'.

And now? Now they stood there, barely metres from each other but feeling further apart than ever. They spoke, but there was too much silence and then there was too little silence. Everything was too much, but too little at the same time. To say there was tension would be an understatement.

So much had happened. People, places and time had gotten in the way. They always knew that they would drift back together when they least expected it. They expected to fall in love again, and for everything to be okay.

They just didn't expect for it all to fall apart.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **And that's it's. It's literally all done and I'm actually very proud of myself. Sorry for any mistakes.**

 **Thank you all so much for continuing to read and review on all three of my stories, I'm very grateful. :) x**


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